Conversa's Spanish training methodology relies on the philosophy that regardless of your age or proficiency level in spoken Spanish, you can make dramatic progress if provided with the following:

1. An experienced instructional staff2. A highly practical and personalized approach to teaching Spanish3. A comfortable and well-equipped learning environment

We call our methodology for teaching Spanish Constant Contact. The idea is to put you in contact with Spanish right from the start, and to keep you in touch with the language at all times, morning, noon and night.

Student placement

Before you begin your program at Conversa, we like to get a good sense of your language level. To do this, we ask you to take an online Spanish grammar quiz. The quiz will ask you to estimate your level, and will then adjust the level of difficulty depending on your results. This way we avoid asking you to try to answer questions that are well below or well above your existing level. It also allows us to get a good sense of where your strengths and weaknesses lie.

In addition to your grammar quiz results, on your first day in the program, we'll conduct an oral proficiency interview. The results from the interview are used jointly with the information we obtained from your quiz to place you into a class with other students at your level. We will never place more than four students in a class.

What happens in class

Based on your level, we determine where you fall within our grammatical sequence. This determines the objectives you'll be working towards each week. On Monday morning, your instructor will share these objectives with you, and you'll work towards achieving them throughout the next five days.

The classroom environment is casual and dynamic. You're not going to be asked to read or write a lot. Instead, we teach Spanish through continuous interaction with the language. As you cover new ground with your instructor, you'll be drilling these new concepts in real-time. Don't expect a lecture - this is a vibrant and highly interactive activity.

Homework

Homework assignments are vital. While you'll be fully immersed in Spanish, it's important that you practice what you learned throughout the day. Daily assignments will help to drill some of those concepts home. However, it's not meant to keep you sitting in front of a desk all night hammering out exercises. Quite often the homework assignments involve interviewing people or interacting with them with specific objectives in mind. You may also be asked to read through a bit of new material so that you're better prepared for class the next day.

Spanish Grammar Workshops

In addition to the time you spend in class and the activities you participate in throughout the week, we offer workshops during the afternoons for those of you who are not in the Super-Intensive program.

These workshops are designed to keep you engaged in the language in a less academic setting, focusing on fluency and your general comfort level in the language.

Learning corners

Further supporting the Spanish immersion experience, we've set up a number of areas throughout the campus where teachers and students can practice the language concepts covered in class. The goal is to provide real-world scenarios where students are put to the test while the teacher observes and gathers valuable information to take back to the classroom.

While we're always thinking of new spaces and places to practice the language throughout the school, we currently have the following "mock spaces" in operation:

Restaurante La Campana: our restaurant.Banconversa: the local bank.Pulpería doña Anita: a small town convenience store named after the director's wife.La Enfermería: the mock campus infirmary.

Language and cultural activities around campus

Keeping true to the Constant Contact approach, we've incorporated a number of activities into the daily routine. Regardless of whether you're an absolute beginner or at an advanced level, we incorporate several activities into the week to make sure you remain motivated and fully engaged. All of them take place in Spanish. Some of the activities you may find yourself participating in are:

Mini-feria: staff and students convene for a snack and refreshments in a small town fair setting.Café y Conversa: Learn how to brew a traditional cup of Costa Rican coffee.Charla de árboles nativos: Go on a short walk around campus and learn about the different species of plants and trees that surround us.Agua dulce: Learn how to make a popular Costa Rican refreshment - agua dulce, made with cane sugar and ginger.Taller de hidroponía: Visit our hydroponics garden and learn about how we make super-fresh salads possible.

Intensive versus Super-Intensive

When participating in our Spanish Immersion Program, you can choose from the Intensive Program (4 hours/day, Monday through Friday) or Super-Intensive Spanish Program (5.5 hours per day, Monday through Thursday and 4 hours on Friday). You can also choose to complement either program with additional hours of private instruction, but most students are pretty much maxed-out at 5.5 hours per day.

Optional activities

Every week we offer a number of optional activities on campus once the Spanish classes have run their course. On Tuesdays we offer Yoga, on Wednesdays, Latin Dance class, and every other Thursday we hold a cooking class. In addition to these activities, we're also able to assist you in setting up volunteering opportunities. Over the years we've established a healthy relationship with our community and we're always looking for ways to assist our students in engaging with the community.

Volunteering and community involvement during your Spanish program

Over the years, we've seen more and more students wanting to volunteer with local organizations, either formally or informally. At Conversa, we're always ready to assist you in finding these opportunities. Just let us know what your area of interest is, and we'll do our best to find a good match for you.

Here's a list of some of the projects/areas our students have been involved in:

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